


Poor Unfortunate Souls

by HiddenEye



Category: Captain America - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Curse Breaking, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:09:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26301712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiddenEye/pseuds/HiddenEye
Summary: “So, where’s Steve?”“Back at the Compound. I came here ‘cause I wanted to tell you in person that Steve got his ass hit by a curse.”Bucky looked up from his mug, eyebrows arched high. “A curse?”“Yeah. Boy Toy was trynna fight the evil wizard when he zapped his ass with something green and ugly,” Sam reached over for the butter cookies Bucky kept in a jar and shoved one into his mouth. “And now, he can’t talk. As in, he lost his voice.”
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Comments: 25
Kudos: 255





	Poor Unfortunate Souls

**Author's Note:**

> It’s. Something.
> 
> Enjoy!

Bucky knew he wasn’t alone when he woke up that day.

His eyes immediately snapped to the closed bedroom door, every nerve alight as the thought of _intruder_ walked around his house. He didn’t have to strain his ears so much to hear the way the person was puttering around the kitchen, and Bucky was already slipping out of his bed with a gun pulled out from under the mattress.

Steve would’ve frowned his way to hell and back if he got wind of Bucky’s sleeping arrangement — but Steve wasn’t _there_ , so if Bucky was going to apply some mild injury with a bullet between someone’s eyes because they broke into his apartment, then that was exactly what he was going to do.

He was glad he oiled the hinges of his bedroom door when he slinked out, bare feet padding against the carpeted floor as he made his way towards the kitchen. Alpine was nowhere to be seen, and Bucky pressed his back against the wall to hide himself. Then, he took a peek.

Only to swallow down a sigh. Bucky stepped out of the shadows, stuffing the gun in the back of his pants. “I gave you a key for emergencies.”

“This is an emergency,” Sam rebutted, chin perched on the back of his hands from where they were planted on the counter. He was still in his Falcon gear, making his bent position look a little funny when the bulk on his back imitated a turtle’s shell. “Lemme have this for just one second after three days of OP with your boy toy.”

“He’s not my boy toy,” Bucky automatically replied, taking out two mugs from his cabinet. “So, you abandoned Steve in favour of my coffee.”

Sam accepted the mug. “Yeah, ‘cause for some reason, yours is so much better than mine and you have to tell me where you bought it.”

“Grind ‘em myself,” Bucky said, and Sam perked up when the coffee was done, pouring some for them both. “The beans were from this café I go to when I feel like crap and I’d want to lie down in the rain. Maybe it’s just my hands’ sweat that made it so good, though.”

“Don’t be so nasty,” Sam groaned, taking out the milk to pour into his coffee. “I didn’t get any of this baby the whole time I was runnin’ ‘round catching some bad guys.” Bucky eyed the way Sam dumped two mountain full teaspoons of sugar. “Let me have this now without anything gross in it, please.”

“Mm-hmm,” Bucky poured a bit of the milk, stirring his coffee when Sam plopped himself onto one of the chairs, letting out a loud _ah_ after taking a sip of hot beverage. “So, where’s Steve?”

“Back at the Compound. I came here ‘cause I wanted to tell you in person that Steve got his ass hit by a curse.”

Bucky looked up from his mug, eyebrows arched high. “A curse?”

“Yeah. Boy Toy was trynna fight the evil wizard when he zapped his ass with something green and ugly,” Sam reached over for the butter cookies Bucky kept in a jar and shoved one into his mouth. “And now, he can’t talk. As in, he lost his voice.”

Bucky rubbed his eye with his fingers; it was too damn early for this. “What’s he doing now?”

“My guess? Thinning the floor with his pacing til’ he drops to the ground floor,” Sam takes another gulp of the coffee. “I gotta say. Never thought I’d know what silence sounds like when he’s not bitchin’ about getting his ass kicked.”

“Can’t say I have, either.” Bucky sighed, feeling incredibly exhausted for some reason. “Let me pack some things and we’ll leave.”

“And I’ll be enjoying your cookies while that happens,” Sam stuffed another into his mouth. “I’m _starving_.”

* * *

When Bucky arrived at the newly renovated Avengers Compound, Sam brought him straight to Steve’s room. Bucky had a room of his own just opposite of his best friend’s, but he didn’t usually occupy it unless he got back from a long mission, or if it was his turn to play teacher with the kids who were too talented for their own good.

Which reminded him, he left his book on his bedside cabinet. He hadn’t picked it up for a week now, and he was in the middle of a conflict that was gonna burst into his face before duties blared out around the building in screaming red.

Sam knocked onto Steve’s door and didn’t wait for a reply before he and Bucky walked in. Sure enough, Steve was walking back and forth between his bed and wardrobe, shoulders looking like they might have burst out of his sockets from how tense they looked.

Steve whipped his head up at their entrance, his tight expression relaxing slightly at the sight of Bucky that he opened his mouth to say something. When nothing came out, he slammed it closed, lips pursed into a thin line of frustration.

“Oh, this is a first,” Bucky said, amused. Steve shot him a glare when Sam snickered at him.

“Sweet, sweet music to my ears,” Sam agreed, leaning against the doorframe as Steve stood in the middle of his room like he had a stick up his ass. “So, did you finally realise that calling people names is a no-no?”

“He aggravated the enemy?” Bucky clicked his tongue. “Can’t say I’m surprised. Didn’t you learn _anything_ during those times in the allies?”

Steve gave them both his middle finger. “Oh, testy,” Bucky smiled sharply. “Someone needs a nap.”

Steve threw his hands up, turning away from them both when Sam said, “Wanda said he’s stuck like this until some sort of, uh, power? Internal magic? Anyway, it has to come from within oneself —or Steve, in this case— since the curse is like, a lil’ kitty sleeping in his chest and we have to wake it up or, somethin’ somethin’.”

“A magic kitty?” Bucky parroted. Steve crossed his arms, a furious frown on his brows from where he glared at his feet. “You think I could’ve brought Alpine with us to bring it out to play?”

Steve shot his head up, his glare intensifying. Sam grinned. “Maybe. It couldn’t hurt to try.”

Steve stormed to his wardrobe and gave it precise and deliberate knocks with one knuckle. Bucky realised it was morse code. 

_You guys suck,_ Steve fumed. _Help me._

“What do you think we’re doing, Steve?” Bucky asked innocently.

 _Being a jackass_ , came the quick reply.

“Even if we got him to shut up, he’d find a way to talk,” Sam tutted. “Should’ve known.”

_You’re. Not. Helping._

“Sure we are, Stevie, but whatever it is that we need to wake up, it’s gonna be inside you, and we don’t know just _how_ that’s gonna work.” Bucky walked into his room and stopped right in front of Steve. Bucky allowed a small smile to surface. “C’mon, it’s not gonna be so bad.”

The lines on his face softened when Steve gazed back at him, and Bucky tried not to look too deeply into the exasperated acceptance when Steve answered back with a fond smile of his own.

“Oh, yeah, uh, one more thing,” Sam cleared his throat. “Steve has three sunsets to wake the magic up before he goes into eternal sleep.”

Bucky swivelled around. “ _What_.”

* * *

“Nothing?”

“Nothing,” Wanda sighed, leaning against the back of her stool as the red tendrils of her powers flickered out from her hands. She scrutinised Steve from where he sat opposite of her, his leg jumping against his own stool with anxious impatience. “Would you consider calling Dr. Strange for this?”

 _Yes_ , Steve knocked against the counter.

“Where is he now?” Bucky asked, peeling open the banana in hand from where he parked himself beside Steve. Bucky pressed his arm against Steve’s hip in encouragement, and Steve seemed to appreciate the gesture when he leaned back.

“Off this plane of existence,” Natasha replied from beside Wanda. “I tried calling him a few hours ago, but Wong said he’s not _here_ , here.”

“Jesus,” Bucky murmured, clamping a hand on top of Steve’s knee to stop him from jiggling so much. Steve glanced at him, before he continued jumping his leg under Bucky’s palm. “Okay, so, when is he coming back?”

“Wong doesn’t know yet,” Natasha reached behind Wanda to pluck up the last cheese tart. “Could be tomorrow, or later that night. But, he’ll call once Strange makes an appearance.”

“Hopefully, it would be in time to get Ariel here back to normal,” Sam said. Then, he brought up a fork to his eye-level. “Wanna comb your hair with this?”

Steve gave Sam’s knee a light kick with the tip of his shoe, causing the man suffering from the burn of the hit to let out a monotone ‘ _ow’_.

“We still have another day by then,” Bucky assured them, the hand he clamped on Steve’s knee now patting his thigh in consolation. “It’d be fine. You’d be fine, Steve.”

 _What if Sam’s right?_ Steve stared at Bucky’s hand. _What if I get turned into a mermaid?_

“You’re _not_ gonna get turned into a mermaid.” Bucky soothed him, slicing a look at Sam, who raised his hands in defeat. 

_Yeah, but what if?_

“I think we should worry about how you’re gonna go into a coma if we don’t cure you by the end of day three,” Natasha pointed out dryly. “If anything, you’re gonna get turned into Sleeping Beauty.”

Steve blanched. _That’s worse._

“My point exactly.”

“Steve’s not gonna go into a coma,” Bucky cut in. “And he’s not gonna get transformed into a mermaid. It’s bad enough he’s an enhanced idiot who jumps out of planes without a parachute. I don’t need him to have a fish tail later.”

“I want Steve back to normal more than anyone else, and wouldn't want him to slip into a coma _or_ have a mermaid’s tail, _but,_ get this,” Sam leaned forward, as if sharing a secret. “You could re-enact the boat scene with him.”

Bucky vaulted the banana peel at him, but Sam ducked down that it splattered on the wall behind him.

* * *

“You can’t do anything, too?” Bucky asked, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“It’s peskily resistant against anything I did,” Dr. Strange replied, frowning while Steve deflated against the sofa they both sat on, hand covering his eyes. “It won’t budge. I don’t know _what_ this wizard did, but he probably had some major grudge on you, Steve.”

Steve grabbed his pencil and sketchbook before tapping out, _He’s not the first._

“Won’t be the last,” Bucky grunted out, pushing himself off the wall and perched himself on the armrest by Steve’s side. “The second sunset came and went ten minutes ago. We have until tomorrow to solve this. What now?”

“I can scout through the library to check for some possible spells,” Strange informed him as he stood up to leave. “Hopefully, there’s going to be _something_ there.”

“Hopefully,” Bucky glanced at Steve, who looked back at him with pursed lips. “Keep us in touch.”

“I’ll do my best,” Strange promised, walking out of the common area with a sweep of his cape. Bucky watched him go, and got his attention snagged to where Steve had gotten up and started pacing around again.

Sighing, Bucky got to his feet. “Pal, c’mon, Strange is gonna help you and everything will turn back to normal. Don’t waste your energy walking around like some overdosed ape.”

Steve stalked towards him and took his hand, his finger tapping against Bucky’s palm. _He said ‘if’,_ there was more emphasis at this. _If he finds something. No guarantees._

“He will,” Bucky assured him, and Steve scrunched his face up in doubt, quickly tapping against his palm again.

_You sure?_

“I have no intention of lying to you,” Bucky said, wrapping his fingers around Steve’s wrist and squeezing it comfortingly. “You’re not gonna get stuck like this forever. I’m not gonna allow it. ‘Sides, I do like hearing your voice, sometimes.”

It made Steve smile, before another entirely different worry seemed to overtake his features then, making him worry on his bottom lip from where they were still holding hands in the middle of the common room. One of their friends was going to walk in, and Bucky was going to be the one making excuses because Steve couldn’t fucking talk.

Then, almost hesitantly, Steve began tapping out, _Before whatever happens, I gotta tell you something._

“Yeah?” Bucky asked, something heavy dropping to his stomach. He vehemently stomped on it to cease it out of existence. “What is it?”

Steve took a deep breath, his breath whistling past his teeth. _It’s—_ He stopped. _I have—_

He grimaced. Bucky gave his wrist another squeeze. “You know you don’t gotta tell me now, Steve. You want some time on this?”

 _We don’t have much of that. And I sat on this for too long to not tell you._ Steve was starting to look genuinely anxious then. But, he shook it off with the way he straightened out his shoulders, determination settling on his face and posture so readily that Bucky had the honours of seeing since they were kids.

But, he was surprised when Steve suddenly cupped his face with his hands, and Bucky could only watch when Steve swooped down and captured his lips with a kiss.

Something popped at the side of his head, and Bucky could only feel how soft that mouth was against his own. 

Steve was kissing him.

_Steve was kissing him._

Bucky was quiet for too long, and Steve was starting to feel that his affections wasn’t getting much effect on Bucky that he started to move away.

Like _hell_ was Bucky going to make that happen. Oh no, he waited for this kiss for more than eighty goddamn years, ever since Steve got back from that fight with that boy in their school with his baby tooth punched out because he was trying to protect some puppy. He had blood all over his shirt that made Sarah Rogers sigh so loudly the whole apartment shuddered with her. Bucky had been absolutely _smitten._

So, Bucky gripped his shirt to make him stay still, kissing Steve with all he got because he wasn’t going to make this slip away from his fingers. Absolutely, no-fucking-way.

When they came up for air, Bucky was gasping for breath, staring at Steve with wide eyes that he was doing the same thing at Bucky with his mouth agape.

“Whoa,” Steve blurted out, before slapping a hand over his mouth.

“Jesus Christ,” Bucky let out, strangled.

“Oh my god,” Steve muffled out through his fingers, surprised and horrified at the same time. “What—“

“ _Jesus Christ_ ,” Bucky let his head fall onto Steve’s chest. “A _kiss?_ _That’s_ what made your voice come back?”

Steve sounded like he was screaming internally before he dropped his hand onto Bucky's shoulder. “I had no idea it would do that.”

“Of course you wouldn’t,” Bucky said airily. “ _Of course_ a kiss would break your curse. I’m gonna kill that damn wizard.”

“It was a nice kiss, though,” Steve mumbled out, and Bucky snapped his head up to see Steve looking down at him with his face as red as Tony’s suit.

Bucky felt himself softened. “It was.”

“Oh,” Steve said, as if he wasn’t expecting that kind of answer. Surprisingly, he reddened a darker shade. He cleared his throat. “Is it too late to say that I always wanted to do that?”

“You waited for the threat of sleeping forever to kiss me?”

“I missed a lot of chances with you,” Steve shrugged, despite looking like a tomato. “I figured I’d take it now, after all the shit we’ve been through.”

“Fair enough,” Bucky wet his dry lips. “Can I tell the others how we solved this?”

Steve screwed up his face. “ _No._ ”

“They’re gonna ask,” Bucky pointed out. “And they _will_ find out that kissing did this. Kissing made you talk, Steve. And hiding it from them is useless ‘cause you’re shit at keeping secrets, while Nat’s just gonna dig it outta me.”

Steve groaned, burying his face into Bucky’s shoulder. Bucky wrapped his arms around him to hold him up. “They’re gonna call me Ariel until I die.”

Bucky patted his back. “The Little Mermaid isn’t even your favourite Disney Princess movie.”

Steve groaned louder.


End file.
